Gamblers in Georgia will continue heading out of state to satisfy their casino urges after legislators declined to bring casino legislation up for a vote.

Monday was ‘crossover day’ in Georgia, aka the deadline for legislation to garner approval in the state House of Representatives in order to be sent to the state Senate for further consideration. Rep. Ron Stephens’ HR 807 received a favorable not last week from the Regulated Industries Committee but the bill never made it to the House floor, effectively killing the measure for at least another year.

HR 807 had a chance to receive a House floor vote on Friday but Speaker David Ralston (pictured) postponed the vote while urging legislators to take the weekend to discuss the plan with their constituents. Ralston appears to have simply been playing for time, as he ended up denying the bill the chance of a floor vote on Monday, claiming that legislators had told him that the “faith community felt they had not been heard” on the casino question.

Gov. Nathan Deal was also on the ‘I’m agin it’ side, saying he doubted that casino gambling would “enhance the climate of the state.” Deal also expressed concern that casinos would reduce state lottery revenue.